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This article is about a semi-professional football league founded in 2020. For the former amateur football league from 2007 to 2019, see
K3 League (2007?2019)
.
South Korean association football league
Football league
The
K3 League
is the third-highest division in the
South Korean football league system
. It was run as an
amateur league
until 2019, but was relaunched as a semi-professional league after absorbing the
Korea National League
in 2020. It is currently contested by 16 clubs.
History
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The
Korean National Semi-Professional Football League
was founded in 1964 and lasted until it was replaced by the
Korea National League
in 2003. The National League (K2 League) was established to introduce the
promotion and relegation
system between semi-professional clubs and
K League
clubs. However, National League clubs which formed independent federation were reluctant to invest for their professionalization, and the plan was miscarried due to their refusal.
[1]
The
Korea Football Association
(KFA) continued its plan to complete the
South Korean football league system
. The KFA made its amateur league
K3 League
in 2007, and introduced promotion and relegation in the amateur K3 League after dividing it into two divisions K3 League Advanced and K3 League Basic in 2017.
[2]
Meanwhile, the number of National League clubs gradually decreased, while some of them joined second-tier professional league
K League 2
(K League Challenge) or were dissolved due to financial problems. The K3 League Advanced and K3 League Basic were relaunched as semi-professional leagues under the name of K3 League and
K4 League
respectively, and the National League was merged into the newly-developed K3 League.
At present, there is promotion and relegation between the K3 League and K4 League, but clubs cannot be promoted from K3 to the K League 2. However, the KFA has announced plans to unify the K League system, meaning that from the 2027 season onwards, there will be promotion and relegation between the K3 League and K League 2.
[3]
Competition format
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All participating clubs play
home and away season
in the K3 League. The championship playoffs were contested by top four clubs of the regular season in 2020 and 2021, but were not held in 2022 onwards. The promotion and relegation system exists between the K3 League and the
K4 League
, although the number of promoted team(s) and relegated team(s) is different every season.
[4]
Clubs
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Current clubs
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Former clubs
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The following clubs are not in the K3 League as of the
2024 season
.
Champions
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Champions by season
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Performance by club
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See also
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References
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External links
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National teams
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League system
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Semi-professional
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Cup competitions
| National cups
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League cups
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Super cups
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Other competitions
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Lists
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